Author: millennialmatriarchs

Frozen Poetry: The Art of Calligraphy

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Though the term ‘calligraphy’ is Greek for ‘beautiful writing’, as the art form evolved, the word has taken on a larger meaning. 

Today, people think of calligraphy as:

‘… the art of forming beautiful symbols by hand and arranging them well.’
or
‘…a set of skills and techniques for positioning and inscribing words so they show integrity, harmony, some sort of ancestry, rhythm and creative fire.’

Calligraphers don’t like you to equate the form to ornamental decorated letters or to the use of letters as ornaments, insisting it is about symbols themselves being beautifully formed and arranged.

They say at some level, it is not handwriting at all, because the primary goals of handwriting are to be quickly and easily written and accurately read. In fact, beauty, personality and artistic impact are nowhere near as important in handwriting as clarity and speed (I wish someone had told my primary school teachers that!).

Calligraphy, they say, is ‘writing as an art form’ and not ‘artistic-looking handwriting’. So while handwriting aims to be read, calligraphy aims to produce an ‘art’ reaction.

Calligraphy is ‘a skill which involves touch, pressure, hand movement, unity, and that elusive quality we term “beauty.’ (V. Studley).

The art originated in ancient China, where characters were initially carved onto materials like animal bones and tortoise shells. Over time, this practice evolved into using ink brushes and writing on paper. From China, it moved to neighbouring countries, and slowly Westwards. The ancient Romans used reed or quill pens dipped in ink to write on long rolls of paper, while Christian churches later adopted western calligraphy to reproduce Biblical texts. Arabic calligraphy based on Arabic letters is also very well-developed, and an important part of art and architecture.

The tools used in calligraphy are all-important. While initially, the Chinese artists used ink brushes, the Romans started using reed or quill pens. Calligraphy was revolutionized with the invention of the steel nib. Different types of steel nibs—e.g., those with pointed tips and those with flat, broad edges being used for different calligraphy styles.

Calligrapher PP Raju’s work–both spiritual and meditative

The symbol of Indian Rupee adopted in 2010 is a great example of calligraphy. The symbol is an amalgam of Devanagari “Ra” and the Roman Capital “R”. It was conceptualised and designed by Udaya Kumar, an alumnus of the IDC School of Design of IIT Bombay.

The reason for this meander down calligraphy-lane is because only last week, Kochi hosted the second edition of the International Calligraphy Festival of Kerala (ICFK). The festival was organized by the Kerala Lalitha Kala Academy and the Thiruvananthapuram-based Kachatathapa Foundation, which is led by renowned calligraphy artist Narayana Bhattathiri. It brought together calligraphers from South Korea, France and Vietnam with Indian calligraphy experts like Achyut Palav, often referred to as the patriarch of Indian calligraphy, and D. Udaya Kumar, the creator of the Indian Rupee symbol. It was a priceless learning opportunity for students, teachers, advertising artists, art lovers and art enthusiasts from fine arts colleges, design institutes and design colleges in Kerala.

Apart from lectures, demonstrations and discussions on the subject, there were a range of activities including workshops, live demonstrations, an international calligraphy exhibition, and calligraphy quizzes.

What a beautiful event that must have been, for as someone said ‘Calligraphy is a kind of music not for the ears, but for the eyes.’

–Meena

Measuring Mount Everest: Radhanath Sikdar

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Recently there was news that the world’s tallest mountain, Mount Everest is growing taller! While the rate of growth (0.2-0.5 mm per year) may not be significant given the total height of the mountain, it is a subject of study and research. The process behind this growth is called isostatic rebound, where land rises when heavy material like rock or ice is removed. In this case this is happening as a nearby river is eroding and causing the land under Mount Everest to push up, thereby increasing its height.

The height of Mount Everest has always been in the news, from the time that its height was measured for the first time, providing proof that it was the tallest peak on earth. Thereby hangs a long tale.

In 1802 the East India Company who were then ruling India instituted an ambitious project to scientifically survey the entire Indian subcontinent. The survey, originally started in Scotland, was brought to India as a geographical survey of the conquered territory after the British defeated Tipu Sultan.

The Great Trigonometrical Survey (GTS), as it was called, was expected to take five years. It ended up taking seventy years!

From 1923 the Survey was being supervised by Sir George Everest. In 1927 Andrew Scott Waugh, who had joined the Bengal Engineers, a regiment of the East India Company army, was appointed as a cadet in the Company, and he was assigned to the Great Trigonometrical Survey in 1832. By the late 1830s, when the Great Trigonometrical Survey reached the Himalayan region, Andrew Waugh had become Superintendent of the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India. The surveying of Everest was carried out under his supervision.

In 1831, George Everest, who had become the Surveyor General of India, was looking for a mathematician who had specialised in Spherical Trigonometry, to be a part of the GTS. A professor at what was then Hindu College (now Presidency College) suggested the name of his 19-year old student Radhanath Sikdar.

Radhanath had been a student at what was then the Hindu School of Calcutta for seven years. He had supported himself on scholarships, and his mathematical abilities did not go unnoticed. George Everest appointed the young Radhanath as a ‘computer’ in the newly established computing office. This was an era when a computer did not refer to a machine, but to the people who did complex calculations. Radhanath’s skills in this were far superior to those of his colleagues. He did not just use the established methods but invented his own formulas and applications to accurately measure different factors. He was described as a ‘hardy, energetic young man, ready to undergo any fatigue, and acquire a practical knowledge of all parts of his profession’. The young Radhanath became a favourite of George Everest.

Radhanath was sent to Mussourie where the main office of GTS was based, and it is here that he spent the next 15 years. His regular job began in 1832 as a sub-assistant. His salary was Rs 107 per month, comprising a pay of Rs 50, tent allowance of Rs 40 and horse allowance of Rs 17. In 1838, when his monthly salary was Rs 173, Sikdar expressed a wish to leave GTS for a profitable post as ‘teacher to a public institution’. Everest made a strong plea to the government to grant Radhanath Sikdar a substantial increase as an inducement to stay. As a result he was given an increment of Rs 100.

Everest retired in 1843 and was succeeded by Colonel Andrew Scott Waugh. Eight years later, in 1851, Radhanath was promoted to the position of Chief Computer and transferred to Calcutta.

This is when Radhanath started measuring the snow-capped mountains in Darjeeling. Foreigners were not allowed in Nepal so observations were taken from the Terai on the Indian side. Till then, Kanchenjunga was believed to be the highest mountain in the world. But during this survey the team noted that a mountain, then called Peak B, appeared to be higher. As calculations continued, the mountain was renamed Peak XV. The mountain had local names, it was known as Chomolungma in Tibet, Chomolangma by the Sherpas of Nepal and Qomolangma in China. But it had not yet featured on the international scene.

In 1852, the chief computer Radhanath Sikdar, through a series of calculations was able to establish that this peak was indeed higher than Kanchenjunga, making it the highest mountain in the world. He gave proof of this to his boss Andrew Scott Waugh who had succeeded George Everest as both Surveyor General of India, and Superintendent of the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India. Waugh waited four years to confirm and reconfirm the information. This was officially announced in March 1856. He also proposed that the highest peak be named after his mentor Sir George Mallory. And thus what could have been Mount Sikdar became Mount Everest!

Radhanath Sikdar’s many years of path breaking ‘computing’ and his tallest discovery were eclipsed by the ruling powers of the day. However, Radhanath continued his passion and pursuit of mathematics, even after he retired from the Survey in 1862. He joined as mathematics teacher at what later became the Scottish Church College. He, along with a friend, also founded Masik Patrika, a Bengali journal aimed at promoting education and women’s empowerment. Radhanath Sikdar passed away in May 1870.

On 27 June 2004 the Department of Posts issued a commemorative stamp featuring Radhanath Sikdar and Nain Singh Rawat a legendary the Indian explorer who surveyed the vast unexplored expanses of Tibet in the late 19th century.

–Mamata

I am a Little Teapot..

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I suppose in today’s world, children don’t often see teapots. Fortunately, the poem ‘I am a teapot’, one of the cutest action-songs, is still a part of the pre-school repertoire. As the poem tells us, typically teapots have an opening with a lid on top, through which the dry tea and hot water are added; a handle for holding the vessel: and a spout through which the tea is served. And there may be a small air hole in the lid, though the poem does not mention it.

A teapot is basically a vessel used for steeping tea leaves  in boiling or very hot water, and then serving the resulting brew.  

Assassin Teapot: Essential Kitsch from China!

The teapot has a hoary history. It originated in China—of course! The first recorded one goes back to the end of the Sung dynasty (1271-1368). These were Yixing teapots which were red or purple-colored earthen vessels. These containers made in the city of Yixing are still produced today and still very popular and are considered the epitome of teapots.

The idea of the teapot spread to Europe after the East India Company introduced tea and teapots in the late 17th century. In the early 18th century, the Company used to commission Chinese artisans to make teapots as the quality of porcelain in China was better there than in Europe. But slowly Germany and then France got into the game, and started perfecting the art and science. In the mid-1800s, an English pharmacist William Cookworthy, after several experiments, finally hit upon a way to make porcelain similar to that made in China and set up a factory in Plymouth.  And from then on, English and tea and teapots became synonymous!

Many and fantastical are the shapes, sizes and colours in which teapots have been crafted down the centuries. It is a thing of beauty and elegance.

And it is this that the annual Sydney Teapot Show has been showcasing for over 30 years. This is an exhibition and competition where participants take up the challenge of making a unique teapot. Each year, there are specific themes, and this year’s categories are Australian Poets, Toy Story and The Natural World. There are also prizes for Best Pourer and Supreme Teapot – Best in Show. The Show celebrates craftsmanship at its best. As the organizers point out: ‘The skill of the clayworkers is employed in making a teapot – one of the more difficult tasks in ceramics – and their imagination and creativity is also evident in their response to the categories suggested’. The show started on 3 October, and is on for a month. Anyone lucky enough to be down under on these dates can catch the show.

Australia seems to particularly treasure teapots. The Bygone Beauties Museum there has over 5500 pieces! But it is not just in Australia that teapots are celebrated.  The Victoria and Albert Museum has a good collection. The National Museum of Asian Art at the Smithsonian has some special beauties.

There are also several private collectors and collections. Sonny and Gloria Kamm of Los Angeles have been collecting teapots for over 35 years, and have about 17,000 pieces. Sue and Keith Blazye have 8,450 teapots in their home in Kent, plus around another thousand duplicates in the loft,.

Of special interest is the Chitra Collection. It is private museum of historic teawares.  As the site explains, ‘In 2011 Nirmal Sethia, the Chairman of the luxury tea company, Newby Teas, set himself the task of acquiring the world’s greatest collection of teawares to record and preserve tea cultures of the past. Today, the collection, named in honour of his late wife, Chitra, totals almost 2000 objects and is already the world’s finest and most comprehensive of its kind.’  So if you are not able to make it to Sydney, check out https://chitracollection.com/collection/ for a teapot-treat!

As the weather turns balmy, it’s the perfect time to bring out your teapot and sip a refreshing cup, while reflecting on these teapot-related pieces of wisdom!

‘Disciples and devotees…what are most of them doing? Worshipping the teapot instead of drinking the tea!’ Wei Wu Wei (Theatre producer and philosopher)

‘A great idea should always be left to steep like loose tea leaves in a teapot for a while to make sure that the tea will be strong enough and that the idea truly is a great one.’ Phoebe Stone (Author and artist).

–Meena

Celebrating Dragonflies

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As the festive season begins, the next few months will see a variety of celebrations. Among the dazzle and din that marks the festivities, there is a quieter celebration going on in several parts of the country. This is the Dragonfly Festival.

Why celebrate dragonflies?

Dragonflies are believed to have been around for more than 300 million years, predating even the dinosaurs. Some of the ancient ones had a wingspan of over two feet! Today we can see only the miniature version of what may have been spectacular creatures, but they are no less charismatic.

Dragonflies are flying insects; members of the order Odonata. As do most insects, they have six legs, a head, thorax and abdomen which is divided into ten segments. They have four wings, and compound eyes which are made up of thousands of tiny units (ommatidia). Most dragonflies are beautifully coloured with shades of greens, reds, yellows and blues.

Within the order of Odonata, there are two suborders — dragonflies and damselflies. Although both are commonly called dragonflies, the two are distinct, with the most important difference being the position of the wings when at rest. A dragonfly’s wings will be held separately down at their side while a damselfly will hold its wings together over their back. Damselflies are slender while dragonflies have thicker bodies; and damselflies have two distinct eyes while the eyes of dragonflies typically almost meet in the middle of their head.

The dragonfly life cycle is uneven. The insects lay their eggs on the surface of the water, and the larva that emerges from the eggs is a grayish-brown creature that feeds on aquatic plants and larva of small insects. It remains in the larval stage for most part of its life, shedding the outer layers at regular intervals. For the final shedding it comes out of the water, climbs on a blade of grass, and emerges in its adult form with beautiful wings that make it a swift and graceful flier. It is this magical metamorphosis that has given the dragonfly spiritual associations in some cultures, where it symbolizes transformation and renewal. https://millennialmatriarchs.com/2019/09/24/dragonflies/

Dragonflies are remarkable flyers. When moving forwards they can attain a speed of almost 55 km per hour. They can hover in mid-flight for almost one minute and rotate 360 degrees in place. They can even fly backwards with similar alacrity. Their flying skills and sharp vision aid their hunting technique; they capture prey insects in flight. This has given them the name of Hawks of the Insect World. Adult dragonflies are mainly insect eaters but the nymphs also consume freshwater invertebrates, tadpoles, and even small fish. Being predators both at larval and adult stages, they play a significant role in the wetland food chain. Adult odonates feed on mosquitoes, blackflies and other blood-sucking flies and act as an important biocontrol agent for these harmful insects. They play important ecological roles not only as predators, but also as prey of birds, frogs and other aquatic creatures. 

Healthy aquatic ecosystems with strong food chains are critical for dragonflies to survive and thrive. When food sources for dragonflies are affected by the impact of insecticides, this leads to a disruption in the food chain. Which in turn indicates a threat to the larger ecosystem of which those food chains are a part. Thus dragonflies are important environmental indicators; a decrease in dragonfly populations signals that all is not well with the water quality, and in turn the aquatic ecosystem that it supports. 

Today, there are more than 5,000 different species of dragonflies and they can be found on every continent except Antarctica. But these are threatened as a result of threats to their habitats. Dragonflies are very sensitive to changes in the environment so change in dragonfly numbers could be an early warning signal of changes in wetlands. There is now increasing consciousness about the vital role of dragonflies, especially with the rapid degradation of wetlands across the world, due to a range of factors including spread of urbanisation, pollution, agricultural practices, and climate change. Conserving dragonflies and their habitat is being highlighted as a priority because they are valuable environmental indicators, including water quality and biodiversity.

The first step to conservation is a greater awareness and better understanding of dragonflies. This can begin with observing these in the context of their habitats, and recording odonate population trends.

India has over 500 species of odonata, with the greatest diversity in the Western Ghats and Northeast India. 196 species in 14 families and 83 genera are known from the Western Ghats. Of this, 175 species are reported from Kerala. Even though India is rich in Odonates, the general public has little awareness of this, nor its significance. Concerned about this, Society for Odonate Studies (SOS), a non-profit organization was formed to impart knowledge to the public about dragonflies and damselflies, and to conduct scientific studies with the objective of conservation of the species and their habitats. The Society created a surge of interest among young naturalists and wildlife enthusiasts in Kerala. SOS joined hands with WWF-India to launch a wider initiative which grew into the Dragonfly Festival.

The Dragonfly Festival started in 2018 to connect citizens with these fascinating creatures, demystify Dragonflies and Damselflies, and celebrate their importance. This is a unique Citizen Science campaign conducted across India which seeks to spotlight the significance and status of dragonflies and damselflies as indicators of healthy ecosystems, and support their conservation. The festival is a collaboration between international, national and local partners which include Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and Indian Dragonfly Society (IDS) and NBA UNEP, UNDP, Indian Dragonfly Society (IDS) and NBA UNEP, UNDP, and IUCN-CEC. Over the years the initiative has engaged thousands of individuals across several states. In addition to on-ground observation and identification, the festival includes expert sessions, nature walks, competitions, and workshops. This year WWF-India had called for volunteers to conduct regular surveys at a number of wetland locations, and monitor the species over a three-month period. The tasks will include photo documentation, observation and identification. The data will be uploaded on the India Biodiversity Portal. 

So many reasons to celebrate dragonflies! And, as India also celebrates Wildlife Week in the first week of October, a reminder that dragonflies and damselflies can be as charismatic as tigers and lions!

–Mamata

Tragedy in a Paradise: Kuru Disease

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Viewers of hospital serials like House become familiar with the names, symptoms and treatments for a variety of obscure diseases, from Wilson’s disease to Fulminating osteomyelitis to Ornithine Transcarbamylase Deficiency to Epstein Barr to Amyloidosis and Sarcoidosis.

But even to a hardened medical-series watcher like me, the most horrifying disease that I came across was in a news report. And the disease is Kuru.

Kuru is a prion disease. A prion is a type of protein that can trigger normal proteins in the brain to fold abnormally. Normal prion protein is found on the surface of many cells. Prion diseases occur when this protein becomes abnormal and clumps in the brain. It then causes brain damage. (https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/)

This abnormal protein build-up in the brain can lead to memory problems, personality changes and trouble with movement. Symptoms include rapidly developing dementia, difficulty walking and changes in gait, jerking movements of the muscles, hallucinations, confusion etc. Death usually results within a year or two.

Experts still don’t know a lot about prion diseases. There are several of them, with the most common form of prion disease that affects humans being Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). Others include Variably protease-sensitive prionopathy, Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease etc.

These are sometimes spread to humans by infected meat products. In rare cases, the infection can spread through contaminated corneas or medical equipment.

But fortunately prion diseases are rare, with about 200 being reported in the US, because unfortunately these disorders are often fatal—there is just no cure.

Even among prion diseases, Kuru is particularly bizarre. It is caused by eating human brain tissue contaminated with infectious prions. But why would anyone eat human brain tissue? Well, it was a widely practiced funeral ritual among the Fore people of Papua New Guinea.

Papua New Guinea
Idyllic Papua New Guinea

The Fore people live in the Okapa District of the Eastern Highlands Province of PNG. Research in the 1950s indicated that the Fore tribe had a population of about 11,000 people. Of this small number, almost 200 people a year were dying of an unknown illness. As they started investigating this, they ruled out contaminants from the environment, common infections and the possibility of genetic inheritance. They narrowed it down to something in their practices. And then a study of their funerary rituals gave a clue. The Fore people would cannibalize their dead. The anthropologist  Hertz uncovered the reason for this—it sprang from love and respect for the deceased. ‘By this rite the living incorporate into their own being the vitality and the special qualities residing in the flesh of the deceased; if this flesh were allowed to dissolve, the community would lose strength to which it is entitled…. at the same time, endocannibalism spares the deceased the horror of a slow vile decomposition’, he wrote.

Children and women were usually more affected by Kuru  than men, probably because they consumed the brain as compared to the men who preferred muscles.

‘Kuru’ in Fore means shivering. It is also called the laughing disease because the affected would exhibit sporadic uncontrolled laughter.

The practice was banned in the 1960s by the PNG government. But sadly, the deaths continued for quite a while after that, since Kuru has a long incubation period—30 to even 50 years. So someone infected in the late sixties might have shown symptoms only in the late nineties. The last diagnosed case was in 2005.

Thank God, it is behind us!

Sorry if this has been a morbid and depressing piece. Blame it on the news item which triggered it!

–Meena

River as a Living Entity

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World Rivers Day is marked across the world on the fourth Saturday of September every year. In times when rivers in every country in the world face an array of threats, this day is an opportunity to highlight the integral role of rivers in the environment and lives of all living beings, and to encourage the improved stewardship of all rivers.

The proposal for a global event to celebrate rivers was led by Mark Angelo an internationally-renowned river advocate. The proposal was accepted by the United Nations which had launched the Water for Life Decade in 2005 to help create greater awareness of the need to better care for the world’s water resources. The World Rivers Day was observed for the first time in 2005. Since even as people are reminded of the critical role of rivers as indicators of a healthy ecosystem, rivers across the globe are being sapped of their vital lifeblood.

Whanganui River

The ancient civilizations and peoples not only understood this role of rivers, but also revered it. Perhaps the most telling example of this reverence is the link between the indigenous Maori community in New Zealand, and their deep connection with the Whanganui River. The Whanganui tribes have for centuries lived along the river from which they get their name, and fished in it for food and livelihood. But for them the river is equally central to their spiritual practices; it is sacred. It defines their self-identity; as their proverb indicates: I am the river. The river is me.

The large-scale advent of European settlers to New Zealand in the 1840s changed the situation. Increasing trade and riverboat traffic began to take a toll on the river ecosystem. While Maori chieftains and the British Crown signed a treaty to guarantee the Maori the continuation of their rights and privileges, the situation on the ground was very different. Over time, the different resources of the river–water, aquatic life, riverbed gravel, the waterways that supported trade and transport, and the land along the river bank were each exploited separately for their utility to the settlers called Pākehā by the local people, and parcelled out to individual ownership, even as the indigenous inhabitants were being pushed to the brink. This was completely against the traditional belief that the river was a single and indivisible entity, and not something to be owned. The tribes believed that rivers resources could be used but only the people who contributed to the community had the right to benefit. Under Māori belief, all things have mauri – a life force and personality. When the river’s water quality was degraded, the mauri of the river wasn’t respected, in turn affecting the mauri of the local people, who relied on the river to sustain them. The local people protested, and even initated legal action to claim an independent identity and right for the Whanganui River. The earliest of such petitions date back to 1873.

The case went on through the century and into the next. Tribunals were set up and hearings were conducted. In 1999 the Tribunal agreed that the river was a treasure, but that the local people did not have legal rights over the river. Once again, the litigation stalled. It took another two decades to gain legal recognition for the river itself. The local people, many who were descendants of the original litigants, continued their fight. The case went on to become one of New Zealand’s longest-running court cases.

Finally on March 15, 2017, after over 160 years of negotiation, Whanganui gained “legal status as a person.” The river henceforth will be considered as a living entity. This means that polluting or damaging the river is now legally equivalent to harming a human. Two representatives from the Māori tribes can speak on the river’s behalf, and it can be represented in court cases in an arrangement similar to a legal trust.

The Whanganui River became the world’s first natural resource to be granted its own legal identity, with the rights, duties, and liabilities of a legal person. Having the river recognised as a legal person means that harming it is the same as harming the tribe. If there is any kind of abuse or threat to its waters, such as pollution or unauthorised activities, the river can sue. It also means it can own property, enter contracts and be sued itself.

The legal identity reinforces the deep and inalienable connection that the Māori have to the river, which they consider to be an ancestor, and acknowledges their inherent role in maintaining its well-being. The river continues to be the font of their spiritual sustenance and renewal. It is a caregiver, a guardian, and a totemic symbol of unity.

This case is also indicative of a growing movement called Rights of Nature. This initiative which was launched in 2010 is a broad alliance of civil society organizations in partnership with governments, Indigenous Peoples, members of the scientific community, and future generations delegations.

The Rights of Nature model seeks to recognize Nature and her elements as rights holders, providing them with a voice through representation, and reorienting western law around principles of relationship, interconnection, reciprocity, responsibility, and the recognition that all Earth’s beings, ecosystems, and components have fundamental rights to exist, thrive, and evolve.

The movement is committed to advocating, accelerating, and escalating the global adoption and implementation into legal systems of the Rights of Water Ecosystems (e.g. rivers, mangroves, ocean, and others) and in general, the Rights of Nature.

The Whanganui River which became the first waterway in the world to be granted legal personhood, provided a boost to the movement which is today active in several parts of the world. It seeks to repositioning people and Nature as members of a collective whole working together towards a shared vision of a healthy and livable planet, promotes holistic water management approaches.

–Mamata

Check and Mate and Gold!

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A few months ago, we had the opportunity to meet two greats of the chess world: Vishwanathan Anand and Gukesh. And today to see Gukesh and the rest of India’s young chess players as world champs is such an occasion of joy and pride.

Anand and Gukesh both spoke at an informal soiree.  Anand, older, a world citizen, soft, sophisticated, with wide interests and knowledge, and comfortable in his achievements. Someone you could picture in a corporate boardroom. Gukesh, young (he was short of his 18th birthday by a week at that time), still not quite able to believe where he had reached in such a short time. But several things bound them. Their humility, decency, utter dedication to their game. And the fact that they were Chennai lads!

Chess

Tamil Nadu, not without reason, is called India’s Grandmaster Factory. Manuel Aaron of Chennai became the country’s first International Master in 1961 and was a major force in domestic and international chess from the ‘60s to the ‘80s. He played a key role in popularization of chess in India and in bringing in international protocols and practices.

And then of course came Vishwanathan Anand, first grandmaster from India in the year 1988, five-time winner of the World Championship, and eight-time winner of the World Rapid championship. He has been Deputy President of the International Chess Federation which oversees all the chess federations in the world. India had seen cricketing heroes till then, and a few tennis and badminton champions. But Vishy was the first chessmaster who captured the imagination of the general public and the youth. Since then, chess has acquired a glamour.

Also from Chennai are Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi the first Indian woman to become International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM), and Koneru Humpy who became the youngest woman ever to achieve the title of Grandmaster (GM) at the age of 15 years, 1 month, 27 days—a record that stayed unbeaten for five years.

And the list goes on! About 35% of Indian Grandmasters among men are from Tamil Nadu, and 39% of women Grandmasters.

There have been quite a few game-watchers who have analysed why the state produces such a disproportionate number of champs. As always, it is not a simple answer, and there is really no hard proof. But some factors mentioned are:

  • Early start: The Tamil Nadu State Chess Asssociation, earlier known as Madras Chess Club was formed as early 26 April 1947 at Chennapuri Andhra Maha Sabha, Chennai with the intention to identify the upcoming chess players and make them into world-class professionals.
  • Early Role Models: With Manuel Aaron in the sixties making it to the world stage, followed by Vishy in the eighties, chess was already in the limelight in Tamil Nadu, much before it captured the imagination in other parts of the country.
  • Bringing world chess to the State: The State Govt hosted the World Chess Championship in 2013, which saw a thrilling match between Anand and Carlsen—boosting public visibility of the game.
  • Making it a part of the education system: Like Orissa is doing for hockey today, Tamil Nadu has been supporting chess in many ways for many decades. The government and the educational system have understood the role that the game can play in child-development and have always made space for it in the school system. In 2011, it was made an extra-curricula activity in schools. In 2013, a ‘Seven to Seventeen program’ was put in place under which each school coaches students from 7 to 17 age group to play chess.
  • Making coaching accessible: The Tamil Nadu government offers online and offline chess coaching by best coaches and grandmasters for students everywhere in the state, especially those in government schools.
  • Schools which go the extra mile: There are also schools in the state, like Velammal Vidyalaya,  where there are over a thousand students who take up chess coaching. Apart from high-level coaching, the school adjusts curricular schedules and reduces academic burden for students who show promise, and also provides financial help to those who need it.

Of course, more than anything, sportspeople at any level need the support of their families. In the case of Vishy, it was his mother who initiated him into the sport and supported his endeavours. In later years, his wife became his manager, travelled with him on punishing schedules, and was his pillar.

Gukesh’s doctor-father and microbiologist-mother gave up their careers to nurture his. It was not easy—both of them giving up their jobs put enormous financial pressure on the family. Gukesh was really young when he hit the international scene (he is barely past 18 now!), which meant one of them always had to travel with him. While contestants from richer countries with financial support and sponsorships would stay in fancy hotels near competition venues, Gukesh and his parents would stay in less-expensive accommodation far away. And hire cycles to make it there.

The story of most of the other players is not too different either. And it is against such odds that these young people fight and come out winners. Gukesh dropped out of formal schooling at Std. 4 and is essentially home-schooled, so that he can devote all his time to chess. When we asked him if he did not miss hanging out with friends and doing things that teenagers do, he gently replied that there is nothing he wants to do at this stage other than chess; that he does yoga to de-stress; and yes, he does party with the other players after the tournaments!

Thank you, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Harika Dronavalli, Vaishali Rameshbabu, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal, and Tania Sachdev, for your dedication and for doing us all proud!

–Meena

Thank you: https://www.chess.com/blog/JARVIS_SL/tamil-nadus-chess-legacy-the-grandmaster-factory-of-india

Fever Tree

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Clay tablets from Mesopotamia mention this deadly disease. Indian writings of the Vedic period (1500 to 800 BC) call it the ‘king of diseases.’ Traces of the disease have been found in remains of bodies from Egypt dating from 3200 and 1304 BC. The 270 BC Chinese medical canon has documented the disease’s headaches, chills, fevers and periodicity. The Greek poet Homer (circa 750 BC) mentions it in The Iliad, as do Aristotle (384-322 BC), Plato (428-347 BC), and Sophocles (496-406 BC) in their works.

The disease? None other than malaria, a disease that has taken its toll on not only humans down the ages, but our Neanderthal ancestors too. In the 20th century alone, malaria claimed between 150 million and 300 million lives, accounting for 2 to 5 per cent of all deaths!

Many have been the scientists who spent their lives trying to understand malaria. Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran (1845-1922) a French army doctor during the Franco-Prussian played a key role. He as the first to postulate that malaria was not spread by bad air, but rather that ‘Swamp fevers are due to a germ’. He was also the earliest scientist to detect crescent-shaped bodies in the blood of affected individuals, and then the four stages of the development of the parasite in the blood. These findings were confirmed by Camillo Golgi. Dr. Charles Ross and India played a huge part in the unravelling of the whole cycle and Ross received the Nobel Prize for discovering the mosquito-stages of malaria.

The story of uncovering the cure for malaria has been dramatic too. For centuries, when no one had a clue what caused malaria, treatments included blood-letting, inducing vomiting, and drastic things like limb amputations, and boring holes in the skull. Herbal medicines like belladonna were used to provide symptomatic relief. 

Cinchona-nitida-quinine
Cinchona Tree whose Bark yields Quinine

But the cure strangely came from South America—a region not originally plagued with the diease. It was probably brought from the outside around the 16th century. The native Indians were the first to discover the cure. The story goes that an Indian with a high fever was lost in the Andean jungles. Desperate with thirst as he wandered the jungles, he drank from a pool of stagnant water. The taste was bitter and he thought he had been poisoned. But miraculously, he found his fever going down. On observation, he found that the pool he had drunk from had been contaminated by the surrounding quina-quina trees. He put two and two together, and figured that the tree was the cure. He shared his serendipitous discovery with fellow villagers, who thereafter used extracts from the quina-quina bark to treat fever. The word spread widely among the locals.

It was from them that Spanish Jesuit missionaries in Peru learnt about the healing power of the bark between 1620 and 1630, when one of them was cured of malaria by the use of the bark. The story goes that the Jesuits used the bark to treat the Countess of Chinchon, the wife of the Viceroy who suffered an almost fatal attack. She was saved and made it her mission to popularize the bark as a treatment for malaria, taking vast quanitities back to Europe and distributing it to sufferers. And from then, the use of the powder spread far and wide. It is said that it was even used to treat King Louis XIV of France.

The tree from which the bark came was Cinchona, a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae which has at least 23 species of trees and shrubs. These are native to the tropical Andean forests. The genus was named so after the Countess of Chinchon, from the previous para. The bark of several species in the genus yield quinine and other alkaloids, and were the only known treatments against malaria for centuries, hence making them economically and politically important. It was only after 1944, when quinine started to be manufactured synthetically, that the pressure on the tree came down.

Not unusually, the tribe who actually discovered it is forgotten. The medicine came to be called “Jesuit Powder’ or ‘Chincona powder’ or “Peruvian powder’. Trees in the genus also came to be known as fever trees because they cured fever.

May the many indigenous community, their knowledge and their practices which are at the base of so many medicines today get their due recognition, credit and due.

–Meena  

Agatha Christie: Archaeologist

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Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller was born on 15 September 1890. 135 years later she continues to be popular around the world as Agatha Christie, the Queen of Murder Mystery. Even as the very English settings of most of her stories and the lifestyle of the characters in her books have seen a century of change, what makes these stories endure is her deft portrayal of human character, with all its foibles, frailties, and hidden depths.

While much has been written about Agatha Christie’s life (including her autobiography), a lot of it describes her life as a writer. From the first short story she wrote (to stave off boredom when she was in bed with the flu) to early days of exploring the ‘murder-mystery’ genre (a detective novel written after a bet with her sister), to creating the memorable detective Hercule Poirot (while she was working as a nurse and hospital dispensary assistant during World War I).

Along the way Agatha became engaged, but then met and married someone else, and became Mrs Agatha Christie. At some point writing became a necessary means of income, rather than an exciting and creative vocation. There were periods when she wished for anonymity, and a yearning to get away from the pressure and spotlight. As her wartime marriage with Archie Christie was falling apart, Agatha began to make brief forays towards breaking free; impulsively travelling alone on the Orient Express to Baghdad 1928. As she wrote in her autobiography …one must do things by oneself, mustn’t one? …I thought ‘it’s now or never. Either I cling to everything that’s safe and that I know, or else I develop more initiative, do things on my own’. And so it was that five days later I started for Baghdad.

Cover of first UK edition, 1946 https://en.wikipedia.org/

From Damascus she travelled overland to Baghdad, and from there on to an archaeological excavation at the ancient site of Ur, where she met eminent archaeologist Leonard Woolley and his wife Katherine who became good friends. At their invitation, she returned to Ur in 1930 where an archaeologist-in-training Max Mallowan escorted her around the historic sites, the two often travelling ‘rough’ over difficult terrains and situations. The bond between Agatha (already a well-known author) and the much-younger Max grew, and ended in marriage in 1930. Agatha Christie Mallowan discovered the world of archaeology.

Agatha began to accompany Max on some of his excavation sites, and spend the digging season from October to March with him and his team. Here she pitched in, helping to clean, catalogue and photograph the finds. Agatha slept in a tent like the other members of the team, but there was a room set aside for her to write, when she was not engaged in archaeological tasks. This was the only time and place where she was not to be disturbed.

An archaeological dig is like a mystery novel. While the slow and painstaking process of carefully uncovering centuries of accumulated earth in the hope of discovering fragments of past history is far from being a ‘page turner’, the actual discovery of even a fragment of shard is when the mystery really begins. It is from these tiny clues that an entire jigsaw begins to be meticulously pieced together. Where did this piece come from? What was it a part of? Who used this and for what purpose? A single object may lead to the remains of a dwelling, which in turn could have been part of a settlement. And thus the ambit widens. The different clues may provide answers to the key questions of a whodunit: What, where, why, how?

So while Agatha spent much of her time helping the team discover and decipher these tiny clues, she spent some of her time also putting together a different set of clues and characters who would make up a murder mystery novel. Some of these novels were set in the region where she herself was based for part of the year.

Simultaneously she was also noting her observations about the people and their culture, the landscape and its wildlife, the architecture and the archaeological discoveries. These remained notes and memories until the Second World War when Max had been posted to Egypt and Agatha Christie was alone in London, where she worked part time as a volunteer in a hospital dispensary (as she had done in World War I).

In the years when she used to accompany Max on his excavations, Agatha had often been asked by her friends what it was like on an archaeological site. She had started writing about this before the War, but had put it aside. Now missing her husband and nostalgic about their days on the ‘digs’ she returned to those notes and began to chronicle her time there. Drawing upon these and her memories and experiences she wrote about life on an archaeological dig, the different personalities that made up the team (a combination of nationalities, temperaments and dispositions), and the everyday doings and happening that resulted from their interactions. These vignettes, recounted with humour and detail, vividly brought to life the human side of the enterprise. She put these in the context of the political situation in the Middle East in the 1930s.

Agatha Christie finished the book in June 1945, soon after she was reunited with her husband. It was published in 1946 under the title Come, Tell Me How You Live.

For the enthusiasts of detective fiction, who eagerly awaited the new exploits of Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple, the new Christie was a bit of a shock. Where was the plot, the suspense, the investigation and the unmasking of the villain? And yet, in their own way, all these elements were indeed present, this time not as fiction but as facts. The subtitle of the book An Archaeological Memoir, was the first clue to the difference.

But the best-selling author did not intend to ‘cheat’ her faithful readers. The book was published under her married name Agatha Christie Mallowan. It was her tribute to a geographical region and field of study that had given her a lot of happiness. As she wrote in the Epilogue to the book: “Writing this simple record has not been a task, but a labour of love. Not an escape to something that was, but bringing into the hard work and sorrow of today of something imperishable that one not only had, but has”.

–Mamata

Private Gardens for Public Pleasure

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Last week, we delved into the making of the Butchart Garden in Victoria, Canada—a private garden which is completely open to the public. This is not common. For the most part, public gardens are public, and private gardens are private—open only to the enjoyment of the owners, their families and friends.

A public garden is defined by the American Public Gardens Association as: “An institution that maintains collections of plants for the purposes of public education and enjoyment, in addition to research, conservation, and higher learning. It must be open to the public and the garden’s resources and accommodations must be made to all visitors. Public gardens are staffed by professionals trained in their given areas of expertise and maintain active plant records systems.”

On the other hand, a private garden is ‘a type of Urban Green Spaces Areas in immediate vicinity of private (privately owned or rented) houses, cultivated mainly for ornamental purposes and/or non-commercial food production’ and is not usually open to the public.

While Jennie Butchart, creator of the Butchart Gardens was clear right from the start that she wanted as many people as possible to see and enjoy her gardens, not all owners have been so open. Or even if they wanted to, didn’t know how to go about it. But that would be such a loss, because some of these private gardens are spectacular.

And hence, the various initiatives in many parts of the world which try to make private gardens accessible to the public.

For instance, in the US, the Garden Conservancy organizes Open Day programmes. This institution is a nationwide community of gardeners and garden enthusiasts who teach and learn about gardens. Believing that there is no better way to improve as a gardener than by seeing and experiencing firsthand a wide range of gardens, they organize these Open Days, which since 1995, have seen ‘more than 1.4 million visitors into thousands of inspired private landscapes—from urban rooftops to organic farms, historic estates, to innovative suburban lots—in 41 states’. These events are curated and ticketed and open up some of America’s best private gardens to the public for a few days. The organization even brings out an annual publication—‘The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days Directory’ This is a yearly guide to hundreds of private gardens across the United States. The directory includes information on the gardens’ types, such as organic, scenic, or historic, and how and when they can be visited.

In the UK,  London Parks & Gardens organizes the Open Gardens London event every year, helping visitors enjoy hallowed private London gardens including roof gardens, city farms, allotments, spaces steeped in history, and much more. A ticket to the event gives visitors access to every garden on display across the whole weekend, with children under 12 allowed in for free!

Under the Open Gardens South Australia programme, garden owners generously open their gardens for a weekend. The NGO helps owners plan and promote their opening. Some of the ticket money is usually donated to a charity of the owner’s choice

In Ireland, the Gardens Open initiative of Garden.ie lists around 300 gardens open for visiting, some year-round, others by appointment.

Mughal Gadens

The Rashtrapati Bhavan gardens, previously known as the Mughal Gardens are not private. However, they are not open to the public all the time. Constructed by Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1917 in the traditional Persian Charbagh style the Gardens were renamed Amrit Udyan in 2023. The 12-acre beautifully cultivated gardens are open to visitors in Feb-March and Aug-Sept every year and a popular tourist spot in New Delhi.

India has some large public gardens, but no well-known large private gardens—certainly none open to the public. Maybe it is time for some people with the means and the green thumbs to create such green oasis in our crowded, polluted, frantic cities. That would be social responsibility indeed!

–Meena